Scientific production on Physical Education in Early Childhood Education: bibliometric analysis (1973-2019)

Physical Education in Early Childhood Education is a topic that increasingly attracts the attention of researchers, but the evolution and characteristics of this field of knowledge are not known. In this way, the aim of this work was to carry out a bibliometric analysis on the articles related to Physical Education in Early Childhood Education published until 2019. Thus Dialnet, ERIC SciELO,SPORTDiscus, Scopus and Web of Science databases were checked. Obtained results were sent to Endnote X9 programme and then exported to Excel 2016 for their statistical analysis focused on productivity, topic and collaboration aspects. A total of 292 articles published from 1973 to 2019 were obtained. The most represented scientific field was Pedagogy. The most productive author was Gil-Madrona, while the collaboration varied from 2.50 to 4.40 authors per article. The main journals for the dissemination of this output were RETOS and Teoriya i Praktika Fizicheskoy Kultury. In conclusion, Physical Education in Early Childhood Education has consolidated itself as a new field of knowledge, in which collaborative work and from Spanish institutions stand out.